The Madonna, the whore, the idealist and the realist: relational dialectics and the spectrum of representation of female characters in The Golden Girls (1985-1992), Sex and the City (1998-2004), Girls (2012-2017) and Derry Girls (2018-2022)

The notion that there are four female archetypes that tend to recur in female-led televised series has been explored anecdotally by, for example, Royster (2022) who suggests they consist of the dreamer, the cynic, the innocent and the Samantha; however little scholarly attention has been paid to exploring these archetypes further. This paper explores the notion of female archetypes by considering the representation of women in four long-form televised series that have received international attention. Three US televised series: The Golden Girls (1985-1992), Sex and the City (SATC) (1998-2004) and Girls (2012-2017); alongside one of the most recent iterations of the four-female character phenomenon, the UK/Ireland series Derry Girls (2018-2022). This chapter posits that such characterisations rely on two key relational dialectics: the patriarchal-driven Madonna/whore dialectic and the idealist/realist dialectic. It argues that such characterisations explore each dialectic as an interplay between the various characters across each series, allowing, in relational dialectics terms, ‘meaning-making (to) emerge in the interplay of competing discourses’. In relation to the Madonna/whore dialectic, Blanche Devereaux (The Golden Girls) Samantha Jones (SATC), Jessa Johansson (Girls), Michelle Mallon (Derry Girls) are defined primarily by their overt and open sexuality; conversely, Rose Nylund (The Golden Girls), Charlotte York (SATC), Shoshanna Shapiro (Girls), and Orla McCool (Derry Girls) by their sexual inhibition, conservatism, supposed ‘innocence’ and at times asexuality. In relation to the idealist/realist dialectic, Dorothy Zbornak (The Golden Girls), Carrie Bradshaw (SATC), Hannah Hovarth (Girls) and Erin Quinn (Derry Girls) all seek to reconcile their idealistic aspirations with the realities in which they find themselves. In addition, interestingly, are all writers or have literary aspirations. Placing such characters alongside one another in the same televisual space, particularly within the long-form televised series, allows the exploration of how these dialectics play out over a protracted period. Whilst there are broad similarities between these archetypes across all four series, there is also nuance and difference. This chapter argues that it is therefore more apt to place characters along, what I term, a spectrum of representation that continuously shifts, rather than either/or Madonna/whore idealist/realist binaries. Finally, this chapter considers the implications of such representations and concludes that whilst the representation of female characters across these series remains intrinsically linked to female sexuality and that such broad characterisations can be reductive and in that they reinforce binary, patriarchally-driven stereoptypes, these series also provide scope, particularly within the long-form televised series, for the exploration, dismantling and critique of simplistically binarial representations of female characters.